As the East Coast prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, covered entities and business associates should take the opportunity to remind their workforce members to safeguard protected health information (PHI) that is...more
10/6/2016
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Records ,
Natural Disasters ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Severe Weather
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on August 4, 2016, a settlement agreement with Advocate Health Care Network, an integrated healthcare system with ten hospitals and a...more
8/10/2016
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the first HIPAA settlement involving a business associate. Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia...more
A New York hospital has settled with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) for $2.2 million after allowing a TV crew for the ABC documentary series “NY Med” to film patients...more
Just in time for the Phase 2 audits, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) quietly posted the updated HIPAA Audit Protocol on its website. The new audit protocol has been updated to include...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that it has started obtaining and verifying entity contact information to identify covered entities and business associates for...more
On February 25, 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released a set of FAQs directed at healthcare providers and plans that are required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule (the Privacy Rule). The guidance emphasizes that...more
On January 4, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule that modifies the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. This modification expressly...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) kicked off the holiday season by publishing a settlement agreement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)...more
In the latest challenge to a Florida law designed to promote early settlement of meritorious medical malpractice claims, the Florida First District Court of Appeal recently rejected a plaintiff’s arguments that 2013...more
On July 10, 2015, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its second settlement of the year for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
7/16/2015
/ Compliance ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Laptop Computers ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Settlement
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS) recently announced that it has reached an agreement with a small pharmacy to resolve potential HIPAA violations. The settlement arose from the...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently concluded that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) does not prevent the application of a Florida law requiring...more
On May 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") announced the largest settlement to date under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). New...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") has just released a new security risk assessment ("SRA") tool to assist small and medium sized health care practices (one to ten providers) conduct a HIPAA risk...more
Effective April 9, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support or security updates for the Windows XP operating system. According to Microsoft, personal computers running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not...more
On February 6, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) issued a final rule amending the Clinical Laboratory Improvement...more
This has been a busy week for the Department of Health and Human Services / Office for Civil Rights (HHS/OCR). It has started releasing guidance on various provisions of the Omnibus HIPAA final rule (the "Final Rule") in...more
On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services/Office for Civil Rights (HHS/OCR) published in the Federal Register (78 Fed. Reg. 5566) the long-awaited final rule titled Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy,...more